ABSTRACT
As the divorce rate in American society skyrocketed, many concerned social scientists undertook research to discover the factors affecting both the psychological well-being experienced by couples as their marriages progress and the stability of these marriages over time. Some of these explanatory factors focus on changes in the interpersonal lives of these couples—how couples try to manage and regulate their interactions to maximize positive outcomes and reduce conflicts (Carstensen 1991; Carstensen, Gottman, & Levenson, 1995; Gottman, 1994; Markman, 1991; Markman, Renick, Floyd, Stanley, & Clements, 1993), how they express their feelings (Cowan & Cowan, 1994; Gottman, 1994; Veroff, Douvan, & Hatchett, 1995), and how they do or do not reinforce each other (Huston & Chorost, in press). Other factors focus on structural issues in these couples' lives—economic issues (Vinokur & Van Ryn, 1993), the addition of children to the family (Ade-Ridder & Brubaker, 1983; Belsky, Spanier, & Rovine, 1983; White & Edwards, 1990), the embeddedness of couples to networks (Timmer, Veroff, & Hatchett, 1996), and the structure of work–family connections (Orbuch, House, Mero, & Webster, 1996; Orbuch & Custer, 1995; Orbuch & Eyster, 1997a). An important recent analysis by Amato and Rodgers (1997) of a prospective longitudinal study reveals ways in which interpersonal problems experienced in marriage mediate some of the structural features found to be predictive of divorce. Thus, various interactive styles or structural characteristics can be considered risk factors portending divorce or low marital quality and a number can be considered sources of resilience for a marriage.
